I'm looking to launch my weather balloon to about 60,000 feet and was thinking the Ultimate GPS would be a great way to track it. I have a few questions as it pertains to this method that I haven't found yet in my research. I'm either going to buy a netbook or use an existing computer to download the necessary software to track the balloon so my first question is, what type of gps unit would I need to use to get the desired results? If I can't get to 60,000 feet then I'd like to get as close as I can.Secondly, what is the best receiver to use with the gps and if its output to a netbook, would it work while in a car tracking the balloon? Would I need some type of car mount antenna? I'm looking to get a balloon up for about an hour and back down, as this is primarily during severe weather outbreaks so getting the data back asap is my main issue here, I'm not looking to get a balloon up as high as it will go. I'm hoping you have a gps unit that will give me what I need and I thank anybody and everybody's responses and help!
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Hi,
For a direct link, I would first try with:
- UBlox NEO6 or LEA6 (the 3DR GPS module and some clones have them), and
- The RFD900 from rfdesign.com as radio. On the ground, a big fat Yagi antenna. No, two of them, at 90 degrees polarization to each other.
It should be possible to set up the GPS to emit the right messages to the radio. The radio will send then down to you , where you can use the UCenter software to decode them. You have to know how to calculate elevation and azimuth to keep the antennas coarsely aimed at the balloon (an automatic tracker is not needed),
A weather balloon will always climb till it bursts, unless you rig some special features to it. See my blog.
PS: If you add a small computer like an Arduino Mega (that one has lots of serial interfaces) you can send the GPS data and whatever you measure to ground directly. Then you still have your data even if losing the balloon.
Regards
Soren